Page 160 - DLIS007_LIBRARY AUTOMATION

Unit 8: Library Automation in Technical Processing

While there is a great deal of literature devoted to various types of electronic resources, Notes
particularly to electronic journals, very little has been written about electronic resource
management in a more holistic sense, with the exception of two books on the topic, or a broader
concept like a content management system to create Web pages, provide administrative functions,
and track license agreements.

8.4.1 Planning

Planning for electronic resources is perhaps the most important and least practiced activity in
libraries. Electronic resources present a number of challenges to the traditional library operations
and workflow that must be addressed in order to provide smooth management. The challenges
faced by many libraries include operational issues such as the number of staff assigned to
electronic resource management duties, staying in-step with technological and vendor changes
in electronic resources, budgeting limited resources for the acquisition of resources, and
communication with vendors and amongst librarians and administrators. Other challenges
relate to access issues such as management tools like openURL knowledge bases, federated
searching, catalogue records, and authentication. Staffing for electronic resources is perhaps the
biggest challenge most libraries face.

The majority of libraries, regardless of total staff size, typically have only one or two professional
librarians involved in electronic resource management. Paraprofessional involvement varied
widely with one-third having no paraprofessional involvement, a tenth having more than five,
and the rest having one to three paraprofessionals involved in the workflow. Some libraries
address the challenge of limited staffing by distributing work among existing staff, prioritizing
projects according to staff availability, and emphasizing the need to invest more staff time in the
electronic resource environment. Others have developed a team structure to meet the staffing
need, delegating specific tasks to paraprofessionals. Another common technique is to create a
committee of individuals to examine choices for a particular resource, narrow the choices and
present a limited set of options from which the library may choose. However, once a resource is
chosen, the investigation often continues as libraries research alternatives and new technological
developments for a given resource.

8.4.2 Policies

The development and use of policies is critical in electronic resource management and for
communicating a library’s goals. Policies set guidelines of practice that aid in electronic resource
management (H. White, 2005). Aside from collection development policies, libraries need policies
that address issues such as types of resources to support, licensing issues, and user access. Other
policy topics include how and which resources should be catalogued, placed in a content
management system or subject guide, or added to an ERMS. Staffing and time are one of the
challenges that libraries face with policy development.

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Caution Libraries indicated that the lack of sufficient staff requires all of their time for
managing electronic resources and does not allow any time for the consideration and
development of policies.
Change was also cited as a problem for policy development because vendors, products, and staff
opinions are inconsistent and change too often. Decisions are often made when there is not an
ideal solution, which causes the need to remake a decision after seeing how things work out or
when the technology evolves to meet a library’s needs. Communication is another barrier to

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